Would you like to use my umbrella?
by Uzamaki Hinata
Summary: Nine yearold Sasuke gets lost on his way to the store and stumbles upon the young Hyuuga Hinata. What happens when the two meet? Will they talk? And what about the years after, will the young Avenger remember his brush with the Hyuuga? R&R to find out!


Well, this is the first time I tried anything Sasuhina, so it is a little scary.

Um, well, I used to never look at Sasuhina as a possible ship but because of a few really good fanfics and AMVs, I've gotten a little crazy over it. Eheh,

But, I hope you like it anyway!

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Naruto, if I did, Hinata would probably have way more screen time than Sakura...

**Would you like to use my umbrella?**

It was raining, that was the first thing nine year- old Uchiha Sasuke noticed upon awakening. His bedroom had the smell of drenched dirt, which could only mean rain. Slowly, Sasuke sat up and pulled at his curtains, allowing him to stare out of his square windows. As he watched the rain pour, he couldn't help but think about the other two males in his family. If today was just like yesterday, and all the other days it rained, Itachi and his father had already left for work. Sasuke stared sadly as the rain hit down on the beaten Earth. He wondered when his father would ask him to accompany him on missions or other such jobs. When Itachi was Sasuke's age, he had already graduated from the academy. Where as Sasuke was trying his best at the ninja school. And even when he tried his best, father barely looked at him. It had always been Itachi, that's where father's eyes always stayed. But then, everyone's eyes stayed on Itachi.

"Sasuke, are you up? If you are, can you get something for me?"

Sasuke pulled off his covers and walked towards the kitchen where his mother was in, making something over the stove. The academy wasn't opened today, so Sasuke didn't have to worry about waking up early for classes or worrying about some pop quiz or something. On days that there was no class, the young Uchiha usually trained. But since it had been raining for a few weeks now, he couldn't go out and train.

"Sasuke, great!" Mother said, without looking back at him. "Can you go see if Hikaru-san's shop is open? I need you to get some noodles for me."

"Hikaru-san?" Sasuke repeated. He knew the shop well, sometimes his mother would send him there with Itachi or with someone else. He'd never been there alone because the shop was deep inside Konoha, a place where the Uchiha clan did not live.

"Oh," His mother turned back, putting a strand of her long raven hair behind her ear. "I've never sent you there alone have I?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"I guess I shouldn't, I mean, you're not old enough for this." Mother began to place down several plates of food on the table.

"Are we.. having guests?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh yes," Mother answered. "Your father is having the Hokage himself over! Won't that be exciting, Sasuke?"

Sasuke sniffed the food. "Father's had the hokage over before, hasn't he?"

"Yes, but this time, he will be dining in our home!" Mother seemed ecstatic by that fact alone. "Oh Sasuke, everything has to be perfect for him. If he doesn't find everything at tiptop shape, he might reconsider dining here with the Uchiha clan again."

The young Uchiha stared at the food, but his mind was on other things. "If the Hokage comes over," he said slowly. "Can I show him my new jutsu?"

Mother seemed to not hear him as she went on and on about the Hokage dining in her home, in her kitchen of everyone in the clan. But Sasuke was used to his mother's behavior. This happened once every year, the Hokage came over to the Uchiha clan to dine and talk about whatever they talked about. It was, in a way, to say that Konoha was very proud to have the Uchiha clan with them and had not forgotten about them. Each year, when the Hokage came over, the best of the Uchiha clan's children would go and show them their best jutsu. It was a tradition for them to show their strengths. Out of Sasuke's family, it had always been Itachi. His mother had told Sasuke before that it was because he wasn't old enough that he wasn't allowed to join in. But now that Sasuke was nine, the same age as Itachi when he first showed off his skills, it was only fair he was allowed to participate this year.

"Oka-san," Sasuke said in a sad attempt to regain his mother's attention.

"Nn?" It had worked, his mother's onyx eyes were on him now.

"Um, this year, can I show the Hokage my jutsu?"

Mother stared at her son and it almost looked as if she were going to say no, but in the end she shook her head. "Sasuke, why don't you head off to your room and review some of your studies for when you return to school?" She was avoiding it, she was avoiding the subject. It seemed that she didn't want to be the one to decide his fate this year.

Sasuke stood up when he remembered something. "Wait," he looked at his mother. "What about going to Hikaru-san's store, oka-san?"

"Oh, well," Mother smiled. "I've forgotten that you haven't been to the shop alone. I guess I just assumed you were like Itachi. He went to Hikaru's alone all the time, so I'll tell him to go once he returns home."

Sasuke stared, it was strange, why did he find this surprising? It wasn't like it hadn't happened before, it always happened. It was just that this time, it had come from his mother's mouth and not father's. Sasuke could feel his hands clench in to fists. Itachi this, Itachi that, when would his parents think he was ready for the special treatment Itachi received? How long would Sasuke have to wait until he was old enough to gain his parents' trust?

"Uh, Sasuke, is something wrong?"

"I'll go!" Sasuke shouted, placing his hand on his chest. "I'll go to Hikaru-san's alone and buy whatever you need!"

Mother looked surprised, but didn't say a word.

"You said nii-san went when he was my age, right oka-san? So I'll go, I'll go and do it!"

"Are you sure, Sasuke?" Mother asked after some time.

"Yes, I'm sure!"

Mother sighed taking a seat at their table. "Sasuke, I... I wish I could let you go, but I think it would be much easier if we wait for Itachi."

"Why does it always have to be Itachi!?" Sasuke cried.

"Sasuke, he's older."

"When will I be older? When will I be old enough to do all the stuff he did?!"

Mother looked down towards the food she made, all of the sudden, it hadn't looked so good.

Fed up with the answers he received, Sasuke reached for the money meant for the noodles and ran out the door.

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Stupid, stupid... Sasuke shivered as he trudged up the sidewalk. Why could he have at least gotten an umbrella to protect him from the rain. At this rate, he would catch a cold before he even reached Hikaru-san's shop. Sasuke wiped his face once more as the rain streamed down, but among the cold drops of water were hot angry tears. Itachi, he always admired his brother for all he had accomplished and praised him constantly. He even secretly wanted to be like him. It wasn't like he didn't know about Itachi being the youngest ANBU member or having learned how to obtain the sharingan eyes that the Uchiha was so famous for at age seven. Sasuke knew all that, so he didn't need anyone to remind him of such things. To tell him about it, to ask him why he wasn't more like his brother, why he wasn't more like Itachi.

Become a fine ninja like your brother.

Sometimes Sasuke wished that he was born before Itachi, so such impossible guidelines wouldn't be set before he was born. But just like all the other fantasies he dreamed of, it was impossible. There was no way to rewind time and make sure something like that happened.

"A-a-a-ano, onii-san?"

Sasuke looked up just in time to see a small girl standing before him, of course he couldn't see her face because she had positioned her umbrella in such a way that no one could see her face. Had he looked up a few seconds later, he would have completely fallen over her. Sasuke then looked around, while he was busy being angry, he had failed to see where he was going. The young Uchiha looked around, trying to recognize something, anything that could tell him where he was. Sadly, he recognized nothing. That was it, he'd gotten himself lost. "Oh no."

"A-ano," the girl pulled up her umbrella, trying to see the boy she nearly bumped in to. "Onii-san, a-are you he-here to see someone?"

Sasuke looked over towards the girl and couldn't help the light color of pink that tinted his skin. She's cute. The girl, with equal pink on her cheeks, examined Sasuke closely. Under her umbrella, her midnight short blue hair looked black, and her lavender kimono, unlike Sasuke's navy black shirt and white shorts, was dry. She stared at him with her pearl colored eyes, but after a while she seemed to notice what she was doing, and blushed while she looked down at the floor.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked. "Are you sick?"

"Eh?" Once again, the girl looked up at Sasuke's onyx eyes. "S-sick?"

"Yeah, are you?" The young Uchiha pointed towards her red cheeks. "I mean, your cheeks are all red."

Just by stating that, the girl's cheeks became a darker shade of red. "O-onii-san, I-I can s-say the sa-same about y-you."

Now it was Sasuke's turn to blush. Of course, he didn't want to admit that he had found the girl cute. "That's only because I was outside in the rain!" He said, he couldn't find any other excuse that might explain his colored cheeks.

The girl smiled softly, she had a kind, yet cautious smile.

"Um, anyway," Sasuke said, crossing his arms over his chest, still embarrassed. "You don't have to call me nii-san. I'm the same height as you, so I'm probably the same age, right?"

"Ye-yes," The girl said quietly. "Onii-san," She stared down at her shoes. "Um, wh-what shall I call you th-then?"

Sasuke grinned. "Sasuke," he said, pointing towards his chest with his thumb. "Uchiha Sasuke."

"Y-you're an Uchiha?" The girl stuttered, amazed by the fact that the boy she was talking to was of a famous clan.

"Yup," Sasuke said. "Now it's your turn, tell me your name."

"U-um, m-m-my name is H-Hyuuga Hi-Hi-Hinata." The girl said, fiddling with her umbrella.

"You're a Hyuuga?" Sasuke was amazed that he was talking to someone of the Hyuuga clan. He'd learned about the Hyuugas at school awhile back. About how they had been the clan of Konoha before the Uchihas began to prosper. For a while, the clans fought constantly, trying to see which of them was going to be named the top clan of Konoha. It was a fight of the Sharingan and the Byukagan, which the Hyuuga was famous for having. Finally though, they did a truce, and decided that they could share the spot and be the clans of Konoha. Now the Hyuuga clan lived on one side of Konoha and the Uchihas lived on the other so there could be no way they could get in each other's ways. But, if Sasuke was talking to a girl of the Hyuuga, that meant he had to be near the Hyuuga estate, which meant he was pretty far from home.

"Sa-Sasuke-san?"

Hinata's voice awoke Sasuke from his thoughts. He looked towards her.

"Uh, um, y-you must be c-cold." Hinata said. "M-Maybe I sh-should get you an umbrella?"

Sasuke looked down towards his clothes and shivered, remembering he was standing in the rain. "I'm not that cold." He lied. "Because if I was I'd ah... ah... ah... ahCHOO!"

"Sasuke-san!" Hinata cried, thinking that maybe he was seriously sick.

"Oh man," Sasuke sniffled. "Now I really am sick."

Hinata pulled back but watched as Sasuke wiped his nose with his sleeve. She began to giggle.

"What's so fubby?"

Hinata simply shook her head. "Sa-Sasuke-san, I-I think ma-maybe you need more than an um-umbrella."

"Huh?" Sasuke tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Hinata smiled. "No-Nothing, just follow m-me."

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As Sasuke followed Hinata he couldn't help but notice the heavy amount of people who had the same color of eyes as Hinata, wearing identical garments but different colors. "Um, is there something happening today?" he asked. Sasuke was actually going to ask if the Hokage was going to visit them as well since whenever he visited the Ushiha's. Everyone went out and wore the best clothing they had. But then, the Hokage couldn't visit the Hyuugas because he usually stayed over night with the Uchihas.

"Oh, yes," Hinata's voice faltered. "I-It is my si-sister's birthday."

"Wow," Sasuke couldn't help but show his surprise. "So, everyone in the clan celebrates whenever it's someone's birthday?"

"Only if they a-are apart of the he-head branch?"

"Head Branch?"

"Ne-never mind."

Sasuke decided against further questioning Hinata. Instead, uneasiness began to fall on to him. He was supposed to go to the shop and bring back his mother's noodles, showing his parents and everyone else that he could do whatever Itachi did. But now that he failed to do that and even got lost in the process, they would never see Sasuke as trustworthy or even believe that he was old enough to do anything. He only had one task, and he failed.

"Hinata-sama, is that you?"

Sasuke looked up at the same time as Hinata to see a fairly old woman with gray hairs sprouting from her head, she had the same pearl eyes as the young Hyuuga.

"H-Hai, oba-chan."

"Your father has been looking for you." the old woman informed.

Sasuke could see Hinata gulp. "H-hai," she answered weakly.

"Oh, and Hinata-sama," The woman's face wrinkled in to a smile. "Hanabi-sama is looking very well. It is good that at her last hour, your mother was able to give us one last gift."

"H-hai."

The woman looked as if she were about to leave when she spotted Sasuke. The look she gave him made him jump. Was she going to kick him out when he didn't even know where he was?

"Ohh," the woman said teasingly. "And who is this cute little boy, Hinata-sama?"

Cute? Sasuke didn't want to be seen as cute. He looked over at the woman, trying to put on the fiercest look he had. "I am Uchi-!"

"N-no, please don't," Hinata said so only Sasuke could hear her. But it was too late.

"Uchiha, you say?" The woman's nose scrunched up in disgust. "What is an Uchiha like yourself doing on the Hyuuga part of town?"

Before Sasuke had a chance to answer, Hinata said. "Oba-chan, h-he is he-here to get an a-assignment fr-from me."

"An assignment?" The woman's eyes moved towards hikaru. "Is that true? Are you in the same class as Hinata-sama?"

Sasuke nodded, although it hadn't been true.

"Hm, well alright." The old woman stared at the two before walking away. "Oh and Hinata-sama, I don't think your father will be pleased to find out that you brought an Uchiha."

"H-h-hai, gomen-nasai oba-chan." She bowed her head slightly before continuing on her walk.

"Um," Sasuke jogged to catch up to Hinata. "I guess I should go home."

"D-do you e-even know where ho-home is?" Hinata asked, even though her stuttering was apparent. It was also obvious that talking with the old woman had put her in a bad mood.

Sasuke looked down towards the puddles of water on the cement floor. "No." It was true, he didn't know where home was. He didn't even know if he would ever get home. And if that was so, wouldn't his father be disappointed with him? It wasn't like Itachi had ever gotten lost on the way to Hikaru-san's shop.

Being so deep in thought again, Sasuke hadn't noticed that the pearl eyed girl before him had stopped walking. "Gomen-nasai, Sasuke-san. I-I didn't mean to be a-angry with you."

Sasuke rubbed his nose, attempting to stop his nose from running again. He wanted to say something like It's okay but instead, he couldn't help but think about when Hinata had gulped when she learned her father was looking for her. "Is your dad mean?" Sasuke finally asked.

Hinata jumped slightly from the question but didn't answer.

Seeing that she wasn't going to reply, Sasuke kicked at the floor. "My dad is sort of like that too," He explained. "I mean, he doesn't do anything mean. But he never bothers to recognize me as anything and never praises me. It's always Itachi. That's who they look at all the time."

Again, Hinata didn't reply; Sasuke didn't know if she was surprised that he would even think of asking her something like that or she just didn't have an answer for him. For some time, the only thing that could be heard was the rain softly hitting against the roofs of the houses. Finally though, she looked back at Sasuke, staring at him.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"Sasuke-san," Hinata offered her umbrella. "Would you like to use my umbrella?"

Was that what she was thinking about? Slowly, a blush covered over his cheeks. Was she only thinking of him?

"Sasuke-san?" Now, Hinata was smiling her soft smile with no caution at all.

Sasuke turned away from the small girl, his blush becoming bigger by the second. "Are you kidding?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I could never use a girl's umbrella and let her get wet!"

Hinata's smile wavered. "S-so, you would not like to u-use my umbrella?" She looked away from him as well. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-san." She saddened, obviously not expecting that answer.

"No, don't be sad," Sasuke said. "Um, look, I can't take your umbrella, so..."

"Oh," Hinata looked up. "B-but what if we sh-shared the umbrella?"

"That's pretty much the same thing," Sasuke pointed out. "I can't share an umbrella with a girl."

"Oh," Hinata clutched tightly on to the handle of her light blue umbrella. "U-um, Sasuke-san, I just do-don't want you to get we-wet. So I-I-I-"

Sasuke sighed. "Okay, fine," he said. "I'll share, but only until we get to the place you were talking about before."

"H-hai!" Hinata smiled and moved over so Sasuke could share her umbrella.

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"Wear this?" Sasuke asked, amazed by the comfort ability of the clothing Hinata had given him. Instead of his wet shirt and shorts, he was now wearing a grey sweater with black pants. Sasuke looked down at his new clothes. "Where did you find these anyway?"

Hinata smiled. "Nii-san w-wears th-those."

"Nii-san?" Sasuke repeated. He moved from the mirror to take a seat beside Hinata. "You have a brother?"

"A co-cousin." Hinata replied, playing with her fingers.

"Is he nice?"

"I-I don't know," The young pearl eyed girl saddened once more. "I a-actually don't ta-talk to h-him."

"Why not?"

"He-he hates me, I th-think."

Sasuke watched as Hinata's nervous look shifted to sadness. It seemed like a lot of her life was around sadness. Almost like his. "Do you have anyone who's on good terms with you in your family?"

Hinata brought her knees closer to her, her face brightened slightly. "M-my mother. She used to always t-tell me that I-I was the jewel o-of the family. She used to t-tell me that whene-ever I was s-sad."

"And now?" Sasuke asked, curiously.

"N-now she's de-dead," Hinata's lower lip began to tremble. That piece of news made tears form at the corner of her eyes.

So she doesn't have anyone? Sasuke looked away from the crying Hyuuga momentarily. "And now your dad doesn't like you?"

Hinata shook her head. "Tou-san d-doesn't mean to d-do bad. H-he's just embarrassed b-by me."

"Why's that?"

"I-I'm not a good f-fighter..." Hinata admitted sheepishly.

Hikaru stared up at the ceiling of the room Hinata had brought him in to, her training room, as she told him. The Hyuuga house, her house, was so big that they had a training room. It was true, the Hyuuga's were richer that the Uchihas.

"Sasuke-san?"

"Nn?"

"Wh-when y-you asked me th-that question before, and I-I didn't answer. We-well, I ha-have the an-answer now." Hinata was back to playing with her fingers.

Sasuke turned to look at Hinata, waiting for her answer.

"W-well," The pearl eyed girl stared down towards the floor. "Tou-san isn't r-really mean. He ju-just expects a lot of m-me. I w-want to pl-please him. But whatever I do, I o-only seem to a-anger him."

"That's... that's just like me." Sasuke said, somewhat surprised.

"Eh?" Hinata looked up at the. "N-Nani?"

"You always try to impress your dad, right?"Sasuke pointed towards himself. "Well, me too. But our dads are hard to impress."

"Sasuke-san's t-tou-san t-too?"

"Yep."

"S-so I'm n-not alone." Hinata whispered.

"Hm?"

Hinata pulled her legs closer to her chest, and even though she was smiling, tears still raced down. "I-I always th-thought that I w-was alone in m-my problem." She giggled softly. "I-It makes me h-happy to kn-know that I am not al-alone. That I am n-not the only one f-facing such hardsh-ships."

Sasuke stared, just by something so little. Just by that, Hinata was happy. How much sadness was this girl surrounded by? "Hey," the young Uchiha said.

"N-Nani?"

"Why do you always stutter?"

Hinata froze for a few seconds and again, Sasuke could see her gulp. Was it about her dad again? "I-I don't know," she whispered. "I-I mean my m-m-mother always t-told me that i-it was be-because I-I don't let myself t-trust anyone e-easily."

Sasuke could feel a frown coming on. "You don't trust me?"

Hinata didn't reply, instead, she looked down towards her feet as lightening stretched across the sky before them.

"Sasuke-san?"

"What is it?" Sasuke crooked his head to face the small girl.

"We-well, I-I was wondering, um, uh," She looked over at Sasuke closely, analyzing him once again. "D-do you ha-have any fr-friends?" But the second the words left Hinata's mouth, she clasped her hand over her lips. "O-oh no, gomen Sasuke-san. I-I di-didin't mean to be ru-rude!"

Sasuke didn't reply, instead he looked down towards the floor. What could he say? He didn't want to admit that he didn't actually have one friend at the academy. He didn't want to say that he never took time to know the people around him, only obsessed with the idea of being acknowledged by his father.

Sensing the sudden change in the atmosphere around them, the young Hyuuga looked out her windows to see that the rain was letting up. She watched as it became lighter and lighter until it finally came to a stop. Hanabi would be happy, now her birthday could be celebrated without the rain being a hindrance. Hinata snuck a glance at Sasuke and saw that he looked as if he were deep in thought, as if he were lost somewhere in his mind or memories.

_That's... that's just like me._

"Sa-Sasuke-san," Hinata whispered. He didn't seem to notice. She wished she could have done something to make him feel better but she didn't know what to do. The young girl couldn't help the sigh that escaped her lips. Her mother had always been there to watch after her, to say those words to her and actually mean it. Hinata looked over at Sasuke, if she said those words to him, would it make him feel better? It was worth a try. "Sa-Sasuke-s-san."

Finally though, Sasuke looked up at Hinata. "What is it?"

"I-I-I," Hinata fiddled with the sleeve of her kimono. "Um, Sasuke-san, I-I just wanted to s-say that, um..."

Sasuke stared, waiting for Hinata to finish.

Hinata placed her hands over her chest as she squeezed her eyes shut. "Pl-please don't e-ever get discouraged Sasuke-san! Pl-please don't e-ever forget about y-your dream! Be-because if you do, yo-you'll never be able to ma-make your d-dreams come tr-true, Sasuke-san!"

Sasuke stared over at Hinata, amazed. No one had ever said anything like that to him. No one had ever bothered. Everyone he knew only told him things about his brother, only seeing his brother in him. And now, this girl he hardly knew... "Baka," he whispered, lightly punching Hinata's forehead. The small girl giggled.

"Sa-Sasuke-san?"

"What?"

"I'm happy you got lost."

It took a while before Sasuke noticed. "Hey," he said. "You're not stuttering."

Hinata beamed, taking it as a compliment before finally reaching her hand to touch Sasuke's arm. "I don't have to."

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"I guess I should get going now." Sasuke said as he and Hinata stepped outside.

"Yes," Hinata nodded her head. "But, you don't know where to go." Hinata looked down at the puddles that covered the sidewalk. There was no one standing outside right now, all inside the main hall, celebrating young Hanabi's birthday. Hinata knew that her father would be angry with her since she hadn't reported to him when she was told that he was looking for her and further angered with her if she didn't show for her younger sister's birthday. The young pearl eyed girl looked over at the boy before her. She didn't go to the academy then, or at least the one he went to. She was home schooled then because everyone in the Hyuuga family was against a member of the main branch going to school with everyone else. Although Hinata always wanted to go to school, of all the stories her mother had told her. She wanted to go and meet more people like Sasuke, to make more friends. She wanted to learn around others, to reach out to people other than the Hyuuga. "Sasuke-san..." Hinata looked up and reached for the boy's sleeve, tugging on it.

Sasuke looked back at Hinata. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Um, Sasuke-san, I was wondering..." Hinata squeezed her fingers around Sasuke's sleeve, almost fearfully.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sasuke asked, now worried.

"Sasuke-san..." Hinata whispered, unable to look at the raven haired boy in the eye. "Are we... friends?"

"Huh?"

Hinata's mouth curved down in to a frown. "I'm not allowed to leave here so I don't go to school and I don't have friends. But you're the first person I saw that's not a Hyuuga. And I want to know if we're friends."

"Oh, well, of course we're friends," Sasuke smiled. "What else would we be?"

"Um, Sasuke-san, if we're friends, then..." Hinata paused.

"Then what?"

"Then-"

"Sasuke, there you are."

Both Hinata and Sasuke looked up to see a boy, a little older than Sasuke and with the same ebony hair and black eyes staring over at them from in front of the Hyuuga gate. The boy, probably in his early teens, had the ANBU uniform on without the mask.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke cried.

"What are you doing here?" His brother asked, obviously disgruntled. "Mom sent you out to Hikaru-san's shop and you wind up at the Hyuugas'?"

"I, well..." Sasuke was at a loss of words.

"Nii-san?" Hinata repeated, she stared up at the boy Sasuke called his brother. "O-oh! Y-you must b-be I-Itachi-san!"

Itachi nodded. "And you must be Hinata-sama, daughter of Hiashi-sama and the heir of the Hyuuga clan?"

Hinata gave nothing but a small nod.

"I hope my brother there hasn't gotten in trouble with your dad."

"O-oh no, S-Sasuke-san hasn't done anything w-wrong!" The young Hyuuga cried in defense of her friend. "I-In fact, I was th-the one wh-who asked h-him to come in-inside because I-I didn't want him t-to get si-sick."

"Oh, well in that case, thank you." Itachi said. "And give your father my best regards."

"H-hai!"

"Now come on, Sasuke," Itachi beckoned for his brother. "We need to get home soon."

"Okay." Sasuke was getting ready to jump over when he felt a tug at his arm. "Huh?" He turned to see Hinata, unwilling to let go.

"Sa-Sasuke-san?"

"What?"

"I-I want you t-to say m-my name."

Sasuke face scrunched up in confusion. "Huh?"

"Y-you said w-we were fr-friends, r-right?" Hinata asked, as if making sure. "S-so if w-we're friends, pl-please say my n-name."

Sasuke stared, he hadn't noticed that he wasn't saying her name at all. "I didn't know I wasn't saying your name." He admitted.

"O-oh," Hinata looked down at the floor in sadness.

"But I can," Sasuke said immediately. "I mean, I will!"

"Th-then say it, pl-please."

"Okay, Hinata-sama, there."

"N-no," Hinata whispered. "Pl-please don't c-call me sama. We-we're the same h-height, r-right? So we-we're probably the same age."

She was using his own thing against him. Sasuke grinned. "Okay, Hinata-chan, better?"

"H-hai," Hinata looked up at Sasuke, her cheeks tinted pink once more as she smiled. "A-arigatou Sasuke-san."

"Sasuke," Itachi bellowed. "We have to get going."

"Okay," Sasuke looked over at Hinata closely. "Abayo Hinata-chan."

"Abayo Sasuke-san," Hinata smiled. "I-I hope we see e-each other ag-again."

"Me too."

"Oh, I have to go." Sasuke turned and began to run towards his brother. And just as the Hyuuga gates were closing, he remembered something. "Oh no, my clothes."

"D-don't worry," Hinata called after him. "I-I'll dry it and give it to you the next time we meet."

"Okay," Sasuke began to wave his hand. "Hinata-chan, the next time we meet, I promise that I'll have reached my goal."

"A-and I, as w-well Sasuke-san." Hinata smiled. "A-and ma-maybe next time, w-we can have a me-meal together?"

"Sure!" There was only a little bit left of the gate until it finally closed. "Abayo Hinata-chan!"

"Abayo S-Sasuke-san, I-I look f-forward to o-our next meeting." Hinata said just before the gate came to a complete close.

"Yeah," Sasuke said, staring at the closed gate. "Me too."

"Come on, Sasuke." Itachi said, pulling his brother back to Earth. "We need to get going, now."

"Okay," Sasuke said before joining his brother on the long run home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Uchiha Sasuke did what he normally did on days when it rained, he trained. Even though the drops of water left the grass slippery and it was almost impossible to train without slipping, Sasuke preferred to train at that time. For one thing, not a soul was out on the training grounds on days like today, they all stayed indoors as if the rain that fell from the heavens was toxic. And for another thing, he knew that if he could make himself withstand training in the rain, he would be able to train in any weather condition. Those were the thoughts that kept him motivated while he trained.

Sasuke trudged on in the rain, trying his best to make it to the training grounds before he became too sick. But, as he sniffed, he noticed that he was already getting sick. "Tch," Sasuke sniffed. "Why now? Why do I have to get sick now?" He was so busy with his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the small girl he bumped in to.

"A-ano, gomen." the small girl replied. Sasuke couldn't see her face since she was holding an umbrella over it.

"Hm," The Uchiha replied, showing the small female that he heard her. Slowly he stood up and reached for the girl's hand as well. The girl, being under her oversized umbrella, couldn't see his out stretched hand. "Well," an annoyed Sasuke said. "Are you going to get up or not?"

"Go-gomen nasai!" The girl put up her hand to meet Sasuke's. Her hand, as the Uchiha quickly noticed, was shaking. "A-arigato!"

"Whatever, just watch where you're going."

"H-hai!" The girl replied, she began walking off in the other direction before coming to a halt. "A-ano, do you kn-know where I can f-find U-Uchiha Sa-Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked back at the girl. "What do you want with me?" He asked.

"Y-you're Sasuke-s-san?" The small girl asked, and slowly, she pulled the umbrella from her face. The girl had on a simple purple sweatshirt with black pants that went to her ankles. Under her umbrella, her long midnight blue hair blew along her face sometimes getting in front of her silver eyes. Someone could have mistaken her for being blind. But Sasuke knew better.

"Hey," he said, slowly. "You're that Hinata girl, aren't you?"

"H-hai," Hinata walked back towards Sasuke. "Ah, um, you may n-not remember this Sa-Sasuke-san. But a long t-time ago, we met a-as kids and I-I told you I'd dry y-your clothes f-for you." Slowly, Hinata pulled a pair of white shorts and a black shirt with the Uchiha clan's sign on the back of it. "Uh, um, h-here you g-go."

Sasuke took it from the Hyuuga and stared at the clothing closely. "Why are you giving it to me? It's not like it's going to benefit me now. I'm not nine anymore, Hinata."

"I-I know, go-gomen. I-I know I'm l-late, but I ha-have fo-forgotten about i-it." Hinata stared down at the puddles of water on the floor, the water reflecting herself and Sasuke.

"I thought you trusted me."

"Eh?" Hinata looked up at the young Avenger in confusion.

"You said you stuttered because you didn't trust people easily, but you said you trusted me so you didn't stutter."

"O-oh," Hinata's eyes widened, she was surprised that Sasuke had said that. And since he did that meant he remembered, Sasuke did remember what happened so many years ago. The young Hyuuga looked over at the teenager before her, studying him. From the last time she'd seen him, he had gotten quite bigger. He was, for example, the same height as her when they were nine. But now he stood proudly, towering over her. And his eyes had adapted a more serious expression, his clothes more suited for his body. Hinata could feel a blush coming on, in a few words, he had gotten much more good looking.

"What're you doing?" Sasuke asked, startling Hinata.

"E-eh?" Hinata took a step back. Oh no, had he seen her? Had he actually seen her staring at him, thinking the thoughts she was? What if he thought she was another fan girl of his?

"Hinata?"

The young Hyuuga looked over at Sasuke, still embarrassed. "H-hai?"

Sasuke tucked the clothes he'd been given under his arm. "Where do you want to eat?"

Once again, Hinata found herself, surprised. "Wh-what a-are you talking ab-about, Sasuke-san?"

"A long time ago, you said you wanted to eat somewhere when we met again. Well, where do you want to eat?"

Hinata's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, oh no!" She shook her head. "Pl-please excuse my behavior S-Sasuke-san. I-I was merely a ch-child. You don't have to b-burden yourself w-with me, Sa–Sasuke-san." Without letting the Uchiha say anything else, Hinata turned and was ready to leave. "A-Abayo, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke sighed, reaching for the young Hyuuga's arm, making her freeze in her steps.

"Sasuke-san?"

"Listen," he said. "I'm changing my schedule for you, so you're coming to eat somewhere, okay?"

"Bu-but Sasuke-s-san!"

"No buts," Sasuke pulled on Hinata's arm and began walking towards the city. "I made this promise, didn't I? So I'm not going to back down on it."

"O-okay," Hinata whispered, she allowed Sasuke to pull her, it wasn't like she could pull herself away anyway; he was too strong for her. Hinata stared at Sasuke when she noticed he wasn't holding an umbrella. "Sa-Sasuke-san?"

"Nn?"

"W-would you use my umbrella?"

Sasuke didn't stop walking. "I can't take you're umbrella from you."

He'd said the same thing when they were nine. "Wh-what if we sh-shared the umbrella?" Hinata asked, trying again.

Sasuke continued on, almost pretending as if he hadn't heard the young Hyuuga.

"Sasuke-san?"

"It's kun." Sasuke said.

"Eh?"

"I don't like being called san, it makes me feel weird."

"O-oh, Sasuke-kun then," Hinata said. "Wh-what about the umbrella?"

Sasuke sighed and slowly stopped walking.

"Sasuke-s-san? I-I mean, S-Sasuke-kun?"

"Fine," Sasuke said. "I mean, you're going to keep asking me anyways, so I might as well use the stupid umbrella."

Hinata beamed and moved over so Sasuke could share her umbrella. "Sasuke-kun?"

"What?"

"Where are we going to eat?"

END OF STORY

Well, that's it, hope you liked it!


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